Courage
by Professor-Piggy
Summary: There are three things that all wise people in Hinamizawa fear, but not one of them holds any fear for Rika Furude. The only things that frighten her are her feelings for Satoko Hojo, and the thought of ever losing her again.


Rika Furude had braved many hardships.

She had been orphaned at an early age, her father murdered in his own shrine and her mother vanishing, leaving only a note as proof she had ever been. She had watched her best friend suffer day in and day out, helped her to overcome the loss of her beloved brother, coaxed her back from a vegetative state – and that was _before _she had spent centuries watching the people she loved most gut one another over and over, leaving a trail of blood and broken bodies burned into her mind. With the help of her friends she had torn down fate itself and thrown it back in the face of the twisted trash who forged it. And that had only been the beginning. She had quit drinking, learned to tolerate Hanyuu, conquered the nightmares that had plagued her night after night, digging into her brain and tearing her apart – as far as anybody else knew, she no longer had them. There was nothing in the world Rika Furude couldn't do.

Or so she told herself, as she stood staring down at the crappily made card clutched in her shaking hands, overcoming the urge to run away and hide in the crawlspace until the day was over. Tch. Some invincible champion of destiny she was.

Then again, maybe it was better this way. Sure, it was completely spineless of her, and she'd never be able to complain about Keiichi and Mion making puppy eyes at each other and never having the nerve to do a damn thing about it, but at the same time...

She heard the footsteps on the stairs, though not many would have. Not many people in Hinamizawa could move as quietly as Satoko, and most of them were the Sonozaki's hired thugs – all of whom knew better than the wander into the home of Satoko Hojo without knocking, or at least a guide. And not just because Shion would have cut their fingers off if they had.

The card was in her bag by the time Satoko pushed open the door, and by the time she'd tackled Rika with a cackle and sent the both of them tumbling to the floor, the dour expression that seemed intent on being her natural face was gone too, replaced with a smile and a giggle as easily as changing clothes. The smile was more in line with how she felt anyway. Probably. At the very least, smiling never felt like a pain in the ass around Satoko.

Especially when Satoko was laughing, like she was right now.

'Ha! I got you! I surprised you, admit it! I finally snuck up on you!' Satoko beamed down at her, and Rika felt herself giggle.

'Satoko, you're a terrible bully! I didn't do a thing to you and you creep up on my like a sneaky kitty stalking dinner. Tsk tsk.'

'Liar! You dropped a carton of milk on my head! And you hit me with a water balloon!'

'I'm not sure it counts as me doing you harm if you set traps and I avoid them. It's hardly _my _fault if you're clumsy and stumble into them.'

'You pushed me! You knew they were there!'

'So did you, but you still set them off. Poor, clumsy Satoko.'

'...Shut up! I snuck up on you fair and square! That means I get to decide what we're going to do today!'

It was a new rule. Satoko had a habit of inventing new rules when she won games, though she only allowed it from others when those others were Rika or Satoshi. She didn't mind it though – she'd been having second thoughts about her idea, so it saved her the trouble. Besides, the way Satoko was beaming... it was worth it.

'...Sigh. Now you've gone and made me a sad kitty. I had such important plans for us, too.'

'Not as important as my plans! I won fair and square, and that means that today...' Satoko's grin turned sinister, and as soon as Rika saw the spark in her eye she knew she'd love whatever Satoko had in mind. 'Today we become Hinamizawa's angels of love!'

...Or maybe not. Then again...

'...You mean helping set up romantic moments for the couples in town?'

'OH HOHOHO~! Of course not. That'd be boring. You can do better, Rika!'

'...We're going to bully Keiichi?'

'Bingo.'

There were three things that all the wise people in Hinamizawa feared.

The first was the wrath of the god Oyashiro, and fearing it was wise not because Oyashiro was particularly impressive or dangerous or intimidating or... anything other than a nuisance who whined too much and whose most impressive power was bankrupting her friends by spending all their money on cream puffs, but because earning the ire of Oyashiro-sama meant earning the ire of her Priestess, and that meant that anybody who screwed with Hanyuu would suffer horribly indeed.

The second was the Sonozaki family, the self appointed protectors and local murderous crime syndicate of Hinamizawa. Of the three great evils of Hinamizawa, the Sonozaki family was the most predictable – trouble from them could be avoided simply by showing respect, treating each other kindly, not being stupid enough to borrow money from them and not having the misfortune to be born a Hojo.

The third, and by far the worst, was the dread hurricane of Rika Furude and Satoko Hojo working together to spread happiness. It sounded innocuous enough – two small children giving their all to bring joy to the town they called home. But in reality, everybody in the town knew that the two had a very different definition of happiness than other people, and that usually it could be defined as 'laughing at the misfortune of others.' They also knew that, although Rika did not invoke her status as the head of one of the ruling families and the single most important person in the village often, standing in the way of their fun would guarantee weeks spent cleaning the street while stumbling into traps and being pelted with water balloons by giggling children.

Murder and cultish worship of an idiot who barely deserved to be called a god aside, Hinamizawa was a practical place. And the people had learned long ago that these days, the unchanging target of the fearsome duo was Keiichi Maebara.

Which was probably why when the day ended with Keiichi stumbling down the road, soaked to the bone and painted as a kitty, nobody said a word. Honestly, Rika was disappointed by that – she almost regretted stopping Satoko's plans to tar and feather him to turn him into cupid, but she had been sure the diaper by itself would be enough. Besides, Satoko would have been upset when she realised that tarring and feathering was actually incredibly painful – and, even if she'd never say it aloud, Rika would have too.

Besides, even as Rika contemplated ways to ensure that next time people would point and laugh, Satoko was beaming. And if Satoko was pleased then really the day had been a success, hadn't it? They had even made Hanyuu cry – it had felt good, treating her to the jumbo puff platter, and it was nice to see her cry with joy instead of bawling like a baby because Rika said something stupid for once. Even if it didn't help with the nausea, and even if Rika wouldn't be able to taste anything but those disgusting cream puffs for a week.

It had been a good day. Hanyuu had been happy, Mion was marching beside Keiichi proudly with her hand in his, and as Rika allowed her eyes to drift to Satoko and take in, just for a moment, the pure delight on her face... she couldn't help smiling too. She had made the right choice. She was sure she had. Satoko was beautiful. Looking at her was like looking at a sunrise, and being with her was just about the only thing that made her feel alive. But Rika didn't belong in the sunlight. She belonged in the dark, downing bitter swigs from bitter bottles and doing all she could not to put Satoko – all her friends – through more pain than she already had. Making Satoko happy like this, seeing her smile from a distance... it was enough. Even if Rika deserved better, too.

The jeering and taunts had stopped. She cursed herself for not realising it sooner as she stopped walking and spun to find Satoko, to find out what was wrong and what she could do – only to find Satoko staring after Keiichi and Mion as they wandered away, a smile on her face. Rika sighed with relief. She needed to stop worrying so much – just because one of her friends stopped talking, or was a few minutes late, that didn't mean they were going to die. But even as she thought it, watching Mion and Keiichi vanish out of sigh with a pang of unease, she knew that was one of the two battles she'd never win.

'Rika?' Satoko asked quietly, her smile not fading.

'Yes, Satoko? Why are you standing there all smiling and happy? Do you find Keiichi in a diaper appealing?'

'Wha- no! That's not it at all! That's disgusting!'

Rika giggled, offering Satoko a smile to replace the one she had wiped away. 'Sorry. You looked so at peace that I couldn't resist teasing you. What's on your mind?'

'...I'm not sure I should tell you now. You'll have to beg!'

'That's mean!'

'You started it! Beg me! Beg before Satoko Hojo!'

She shouldn't have done it. She should have tackled Satoko to the ground and tickled her into submission – it was what Satoko was expecting, from the way she tensed and smirked in challenge. But instead Rika swept into a bow and begged.

'Oh wise and graceful trap master of Hinamizawa, please forgive my arrogance. My words were offered in jest, for I know you could do far better than Keiichi.'

If she had one regret for the day, it was that she couldn't see Satoko's blush – she heard the stammering though, as she held her bow and tried not to burst into laughter. And she heard the words that came after, too.

'…I wanted to... to say thank you, for letting me sneak up on you this morning. Today was a good day.'

Before the words quite registered, and an instant before her head snapped up in surprise, a pair of lips pressed gently against her cheek – followed instantly by the sound of Satoko running away as fast as her feet could carry her. Rika stood slowly, and watched her disappear into the distance as a smile formed on her face, all on it's own. Then it became a grin, and she let her hand drift slowly up to her cheek.

She started walking – not too fast, and not too slow. It would take Satoko twenty minutes to reach their home, and another ten to get ready for bed. Five more than that so that she could pretend to be asleep. Rika would give her fifty. Normally, she would have chased her down, prevented Satoko from hiding from what she had done. But she had been very brave today, and she deserved a reward.

Besides, she thought as she reached into the bag for the card she had made, wincing at the painstakingly drawn but still horrible Satoko on the front... she had a lot to think about.


End file.
